Summit Church
Sunday, September 5, 2021
The Art of Doing Nothing

  • Four things we don’t have to do

    not passivity
    not trying to get God to like us or trying to get on His good side

    dolce far niente (Italian)

    the sweetness of doing nothing

    pleasant relaxation in carefree idleness

    don’t have to go to Hawaii

    there are good things to do

    offer our bodies
    walk in the spirit
    set our minds on the Word
    sharing the gospel
    loving others as Jesus has loved us

    Abraham example

    he didn’t rest
    difference - we have it better than Abraham
    we’re not waiting on the promises, Jesus already finished the work!
    Abraham was called to put faith in a future thing
    we are called to put faith in something that is already finished

    not self-improvement

    not trying to feel something to experience God

    you can’t trust your emotions

    come out of nowhere
    not reliable
    not good bearings for truth

    1 Do nothing to get closer to God

    1 Corinthians 6:16–17 ESV
    16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

    Feeling unclose to God

    praying on peoples emotions/insecurities

    feelings are not the truth, the Word is the truth (John 17:17)

    Some think, “I’ve got to do what I feel” or I’m being hypocritical

    No, you’re being hypocritical when you don’t live like the holy, righteous child of God that you really are - that’s the truth

    Bible Study - not to get close to God

    Read Bible to find out what is already true about us

    The work is finished (John 19:30)

    I can’t add to it

    I can’t make it more true

    I can act on it

    I can respond to it

    2 Do nothing to get more forgiven

    what to do when attacked with a thought of something you’ve done wrong

    things you are wrestling with from your past

    what do you do at that moment? try to justify?

    Do nothing

    that accusation doesn’t matter

    I’m counting myself dead to that thought

    sometimes the hardest thing to do is to do nothing

    By doing nothing I’m resting in what Jesus said is true

    Vertical vs. Horizontal

    The Vertical is finished
    horizontal flows from the vertical
    If the vertical is not set already, I’m not going to be able to live the horizontal
    Romans 8:1 ESV
    1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
    Hebrews 10:14 ESV
    14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

    3 Do nothing to get your heart right

    Romans 6:17–18 ESV
    17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

    what I’ve done vs. my spiritual resume’

    my birth certificate - slave of righteousness / obedient from the heart

    this is God’s opinion of you

    4 Do nothing to feel something

    1 John 5:13 ESV
    13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
    Do we have to do anything in the New Covenant?
    What are four things that we don’t have to do? Explain.
    What do I do when I’m attacked with a thought of something I’ve done wrong?
    What does it mean to be a slave of righteousness?

        • 1 Corinthians 6:16–17ESV

        • Romans 8:1ESV

        • Hebrews 10:14ESV

        • Romans 6:17–18ESV

        • 1 John 5:13ESV

        Summit Church
        hello@summitonline.church
        2604245683
        http://www.summitonline.church
        100 members • 51 followers